Einstein Bros. Bagels said no—it was time to work on making sure those 405,000+ fans would keep coming back for more.

“We knew going into this that we weren’t just going to get our fans all in one day and then not do anything with them,” says Kate Phelps, program manager at Creative Alliance, the agency Einstein hired. “We had to have a strategy for what to do once we got all of our fans: how we would talk to them, how we would give them something to keep them engaged.”

Let’s look at how Einstein developed and realized that strategy.

Learning about online customers

Before starting an online conversation, it’s wise to gain insights into your customers.